Did i pay too much for apparently a solar flame angelfish $400?

[CMMorgan]

Overpriced or not.... if you like it and it's happy, negotiate a fair price and maybe use the difference in credit at the store.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

I have a slightly different take on this. If it is healthy and didn’t wipe your tank out with velvet or something else, you did ok. If you feel it’s not a solar ask for some type of store credit or refund. However it will take up to two weeks to determine if this addition will wipe out the rest of your fish. Great looking angel.

 

[sde1500]

they either don’t know what they are doing and have put you to a lot of hassle, or they did know and now realised they have been caught out

Or they made an honest mistake. yeesh... Interesting, never even heard of "solar" flame angels. Not a big angel guy, but not like I'm new to the hobby either.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I have to agree with @Joeg as far as 1) we have all overpaid at least once in this hobby— and probably more times, and 2) only you can determine your overall happiness-level with the purchase.

 

[Tamberav]

I still say it’s not a solar flare but flame angels are actually quite variable and there are morphs without the black bars.

So it could be missing some bars.

Another phenotype occurs in French Polynesia and the Marquesas, where the body is again orange, but with only pale indications of barring and a single prominent blotch near the pectoral fin.

Hawaii’s Angelfish Diversity: Part 1

Hawaii is an immensely fascinating archipelago to study in terms of the biogeography and evolution of its shallow water marine fishes. These isolated volcanic i

reefs.com

 

[albano]

The lfs may have a higher offer for it, so of course they’re willing to come over and get it back!

 

[polyppal]

Does your LFS owner sell cars too?

 

[albano]

Hawaii’s Angelfish Diversity: Part 1

Hawaii is an immensely fascinating archipelago to study in terms of the biogeography and evolution of its shallow water marine fishes. These isolated volcanic i

reefs.com

‘True’ Hawaiian flames are not the same as the flames that are sold in most LFSs, which are often shipped THRU Hawaii but are not from Hawaii.

 

[xAndrewx]

If I were you, I would keep it. Even if it is just a flame angel it doesn’t look like the ”common” variant that is sold. It may grow to be something spectacular. I would ask for a partial refund though, as it doesn’t appear to be a solar flare.

 

[fishguy212]

Ok so here is the update and i am super angry with this LFS. I had told them they will not be able to catch this fish, but they insisted. Appointment was set for 10am. They came in at 4pm. Wasted an hour, stressed out all my fish and were unable to catch it. I had told them about this forum post and sent a link to them on facebook also, they were saying the whole forum community is wrong and these forum members just hate and dont know what they are talking about when it comes to flame angels.

I also made them fair offer of $100 to keep it so as to avoid the hassle, they said no want the fish back.

Now they wanted to come back tomorrow at unknown time set a trap and leave. I just told them its enough hassle and stress on the tank i will just keep it. Serious not worth the hassle again.

Anyways what a waste of my time and this shop just gives a bad name to what a reputable business should be all about.

So my advise to others is always do your research before going to buy fish, some of these shops will not be honest and will not care about customer service at all. They just care about making money.

 

[School of Fish]

First of all the angelfish was not sold as a "Solar Flare" Flame angel. We sell those when we get them for $1800-$2500. It was sold as a "Solar" Flame angel because it is a different color morph and lacks true black colors. It does not have the typical black bars. This was explained to the customer and if we had regular flames in stock it would have been very evident. The fish was viewed by the customer and he bought it. It did not arrive sight unseen like a mail order. So that is where the confusion began. This is not a typical flame angel and is very beautiful. We deal in high end fish as the core of our business.
SOF offered, after a late night message claiming he had been ripped off, to come and catch the fish and pay him a full refund. With all of the regular jobs we had and in addition to getting new shipments in we committed to go and catch the fish. This required us to fit him in. Plus the customer lives a solid hour away from the shop which made for a longer delay. It was not possible to send someone to get the fish early in the day as we had a shipment of Oreni Tilefish that were lost in UPS logistics and were struggling to find them. We literally had people driving around looking for UPS trucks. A message was sent to customer at 9:00 am explaining this and his response was "No Problem".
The SOF employee arrived and was unable to secure fish as customer did not want rock structures moved in his 100g tank and we understood this. We asked if we could send a trap over and catch the fish. It was explained to customer we would pay for the fish when it was secured. This is what upset the customer (who was also upset because we did not want to purchase his yellow tang). It was the explained to us how we would be blasted on forums etc. That we weren't a good LFS. When we would contend we went out of our way to try and make him happy.

 

[sde1500]

Meh well now the differing sides of the story are out there. Sure sounds like customers I’ve dealt with in other industry lol.
Hopefully can be sorted out like adults. Reviews are good online for SoF

 

[iMi]

Thanks all. Appreciate all the help. The fish store is honorable and will come and catch the fish and refund me. Appreciate all the help.

This right here. I see this consistently. Folks in this hobby seem to consistently do the right thing. At least those who survive and thrive. Well done and glad to see this work out. It's also a reminder that sometimes people just make mistakes. Stuff gets misidentified, staff at the store messes up. It happens.

 

[fishguy212]

The LFS was told it will be hard to catch with the liverock. The LFS guaranteed the representative will catch it apparently as they catch fish frequently from 1,000 gallon tanks full of live rock. Then the LFS owner told me employee was not able to do the job properly after an hour.

The LFS sells yellow tangs for $350. I have one that is becoming large and is fighting with purple tang. I offered LFS yellow tang for $100. They said no.

I spent over $1,000 with this LFS over the last year so clearly a small $100 amount is not worth mentioning.

The LFS blased tbe entire forum community as forum sellers who just hate LFS for no reason.

Anyways buyers beware. I dont want to talk about this subject anymore. I will not be doing business with this shop anymore.

 

[sde1500]

While I feel disputes between two parties shouldn’t be aired out in public, you can’t just put them on blast giving your side of events then suddenly “not want to talk about it anymore” when they give their account.

 

[fishguy212]

While I feel disputes between two parties shouldn’t be aired out in public, you can’t just put them on blast giving your side of events then suddenly “not want to talk about it anymore” when they give their account.

While I feel disputes between two parties shouldn’t be aired out in public, you can’t just put them on blast giving your side of events then suddenly “not want to talk about it anymore” when they give their account.

I actually went out of my way and offered the LFS to buy it back for $300 even though i paid $400 because it will cause burden on them for time and employee cost. I myself drove an hour and an hour back.

Anyways there is not much else i can do. And forums are a way for folks like me to find out if a unknowing buyer paid way to much, there are experts on this forum. I am not. And it seems majority of folks think i got taken advantage of.

I am the one who paid $400 for it. Not the other way around.

I think any person at this point will feel very frustrated.

 

[Joeg]

Did anybody bring popcorn for this show?

 

[Reef.]

I’m lost?

So did you get your refund?

Have you kept the flame?

 

[albano]

I am the one who paid $400 for it. Not the other way around.

I think any person at this point will feel very frustrated.

Think on the bright side... if it was for sale on Divers Den, it would have been way more expensive!!!

 

[Tamberav]

Hmm calling it a solar angel is a bit confusing.